How powerful are protest movements?

A new left-leaning movement called Up All Night is sweeping across France.

Every evening for the past 12 days, crowds of young people have gathered in downtown Paris under the banner of a new movement called Nuit Debout. It loosely translates as Up All Night.

And it has become a focal point for a group of people with a shared sense of exclusion from mainstream politics.

The movement began as a protest against labour reforms, expanding to include other grievances such as inequality and the environment. And the nightly sit-ins and debates have now spread to dozens of other cities across France, even spilling over borders into Belgium, Germany and Spain.

But what effect do these movements have? And can they bring change in France and elsewhere?

Presenter: Jane Dutton

Guests:

Nick Riemer - academic and political activist

Benjamin Bowman - teaching fellow in comparative politics at the University of Bath